~_~ T_T ~_~

I sighed, looking down at the last sunset of the last day. What would happen to my friends? What would they think of me after I was gone? They had ridiculed me and criticized me. They'd criticized me, not my actions. What was so wrong with me? What had I done wrong to deserve all the hardships I'd had to endure for all these miserable years? All these miserable, long, eternally painful years... Would I miss this sunset when I was gone? Would I even exist as a post-conscious form? A spirit? Would I still live among the living as an inaudible, invisible, lonely thing? Would I be forced to forever roam the lands in search of peace that I may never find?

I stood up. I guess I would find out. The last sunset was beautiful. Nature was giving me her farewell present. And it was perfect. I thanked her before looking straight down. There was no railing on the skyscraper to hold me back. And those people way down there on the sidewalk seemed so miniscule and so far away. It was like a dream really. But it wasn't one. This was for real. I'd had it with all those years of insults and torture. They never saw what they did to me...and that made it just that much worse...

I inhaled sharply as I let one foot dangle off the side of the building. I'd tried this before but each time I'd chickened out. But not this time. I wouldn't back out this time. I wasn't so stupid as to keep living a life that refused to treat me right. It was a dumb as staying with an abusive boyfriend. Well, life was my abusive boyfriend. And unlike those who were so oblivious to the possibility of escape, I was going to get away from it.

I would die with regrets. I knew that. But death was welcoming me into his arms.

"Gomenasai."

I leaned my weight forward and shut my eyes. I didn't jump. I didn't resist. I just let it come. I felt my body accelerate forward, until my foot lost its hold and slipped off the edge of the building. It had to be at least twenty-five stories high. It would be enough to carry out my final wish. I thanked gravity for pulling me down, I thanked nature for giving me a parting gift, and I thanked death for granting me this.

The air rushed past me, chilling my skin. I didn't open my eyes even though my instincts were going crazy. I didn't flail wildly and aimlessly around. I tried to stay as calm as I could, but it wasn't that easy when you knew you were going to die.

Somehow I sensed how close the ground was, how short the rest of my life would be.

I only felt it for a moment, a hard pressure on my entire body. And then...nothing.